Otarus again.

As I've said before, I love it when readers chip in around here. Our friend Melvyn was kind enough to share with us the very much in-demand sophomore album from the Otarus Brothers Band! And it sounds great!

So if you dig it, drop a comment and say thanks to Melvyn!

OTARUS - OTARUS (EMI RECORDS, NEMI(LP) 0014, c. 1973)

SIDE 1
1. Eminerume
2. Okuanibo
3. Emanuregbe
4. Ihagbene Iteyowa
5. Agbonita
6. Aigbomo Nomo

SIDE 2
1. Omohupa
2. Afemai Nasoma
3. Pack & Go
4. Amuwa
5. Adenomo

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Wise men bank with UBO

(Title being an eminently lame pun referring to this immortal jingle.)

UMUKEGWU BOYS OPINION with headquarters headquarters [sic] in AKOKWA, IDEATO L.G.A. of IMO STATE is an organisation of budding and enterprising young men formed in 1974 to cater for the general welfare of its members and the community at large: In addition to their concerted efforts to promote development projects, the Boys Opinion launched their UBO JAZZ BAND in 1978 to put people in relaxed moods, while pursuing their set objectives. Though they are no professional musicians, they still found time to make this album you are now holding - a testimony of their creativeness and dynamism.

OHAIGIRI SOCIAL CLUB also with headquarters in AKOKWA, IDEATO, Imo State is a noble organisation promoting the peoples cultural and social aspirations. Membership is countryside and development achievements diverse. Easily one of the most honourable Social Clubs around - hear UBO Jazz Band confirm this.

On the real, I could have told you they were not professional musicians just by listening to them. Not that they don't play well--no, they're more than competent enough; it's just that they don't seem to have a really distinctive voice. It's Igbo guitar band highlife-by-the-numbers and a bit derivative of Osadebe and some other stuff, but it's still a pretty good listen, I think.

UBO JAZZ BAND OF AFRICA - OHAIGIRI SPECIAL (ANODISC RECORDS, ALPS 1068, 1981)

SIDE I
1. Ome Njo Kwusiya
2. K'anyi Bili N'udo

SIDE II
1. Ohaigiri Special

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Suku Suku System

George Iboroma--was one of the most popular proponents of 1970s dance band highlife--well, in Eastern Nigeria, anyway.

I still remember this particular record shaking up the grownups' parties even in the 1980s, when I was coming up. But even if I had forgotten how much play Iboroma's suku suku suku libi libi laba laba sound got, I need only look at my copy of the record, on which the grooves are worn clear through.

Listener beware: Skips and noise aplenty on this one. I regret I had to use the noise removal tool, adding some distortion too. And then the third track--one of the sweetest on the album--was so damaged that I had to leave it off altogether.

I'd usually not share a record in this state, but you can barely find a mention of George Iboroma online let alone any of this music, and I think he should be represented out there.

So until I can find more, this is what we've got.

This album is a two-fer; Side 2 features some Igbo highlife from The Young Timers Dance Band led by Helen WIlliams, one of the few woman highlife bandleaders I can think of.

(We'll hear some more from her later, and in better condition, too!)

GEORGE IBOROMA & HIS REINCARNATIONS - UNBEATABLE GEORGE IBOROMA & HIS REINCARNATIONS (TABANSI RECORDS, TRL 104A, 1975)

1. Philip Leonda
2. Sobra Suapri
3. Ina Bala Na

HELEN WILLIAMS & THE YOUNG TIMERS DANCE BAND - UKO DI (TABANSI RECORDS, TRL 104B, 1975)

1. Di Dim Uko
2. Amachie Uwa George
3. Amam Onye Mmadighi Mma

Nice and scratchy

Emperor Era Jenewari & His Globe Kings Dance Band - "Globe King's Special"

Emperor Era Jenewari & His Globe Kings Dance Band - "Ikeguru Uwa"



I think this record was released around 1970 or 71.

(Sorry about some of the distortion... I used a bit of noise removal on it, which I usually don't do.)

Check out some of Jenewari's later music HERE

This was not the plan

Let's see...

The last two posts dealt with Izon musician Echo Toikumo and guitarist Benjamin Otaru, who eared his chops under Ijaw bandleader Rex Lawson. I'd hoped to continue this informal theme of Rivers State-styled highlife today by throwing up some sound by Ijaw singer George Iboroma, but the record I wanted to post needs a little more restoration than I have the time to perform right now.

So instead I decided to take the easy route and share this album by Benji Igbadumhe instead. That works, doesn't it? Even though King Benji does not originate from the Ijoid clans, he--like highlife cult legend Waziri Oshomah--comes from the Etsakọ group in northern Edo State, so we still have a "highlife from minority groups" thing going ("minority" in Nigerian parlance refers to any ethnic group that is not Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa/Fulani). And to make things better yet, this record is like VG++/NM! I'll have it ripped in a flash!

Alas, this is not how it turned out. For some reason, the record plays funny-style, so there will be a few skips for you, especially on side 2. It doesn't detract significantly from these groovy Okeke sounds, though.

I think the track that fills all of side 1, "Arofu Nemho Okeke" was a "hit" to some extent in 1984. Either that or it was played as the theme music of some TV show or something, because I remember it quite well though I don't think I've ever actually listened to this record before today.

Oh yes, one more thing: His name is misspelled on the cover; it should be "Igbadumhe." (D'OH!)

BENJI IGBADUMHE AND HIS OKEKE SOUNDS INTERNATIONAL - BENJI IGBADUMHE AND HIS OKEKE SOUNDS INTERNATIONAL (SUPREMEDISK, SDP 049, 1984)

SIDE 1
1. Arofu Nemho Okeke

SIDE 2
1. Erelumhe
2. Atab Okeke

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Otarus.

This is another band with a name that is very sweet in the mouth, especially when you pronounce it with a proper accent: AWW-taard-OOSS.

The proclamation of that single word from the front cover of a record evokes images of some otherworldly, winged behemoth of mythology. Which is apt, I suppose, as the Otarus sound is fleet and ethereal, and Benjamin Otaru is a beast on the guitar.

Otaru was born in 1947 in the town of Ewan, in the Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of present-day Edo State, Nigeria. His musical talent first manifested itself while he was a student at St. Paul's Grammar School in Igarra where he played organ in the choir. When he left school, he took a job as a storekeeper at John Holt, but quit in '67 to play guitar in the Gaiki Messengers Band. By 1968 he had joined The Rivers Men, led by the great Rex Lawson, remaining in the band until Lawson's death in 1971. For the next year, Otaru played with St. Augustine's Rovers Band and then broke off to form his own Otarus Brothers International Band in 1972.

Based on context clues, I am dating this album, his third, to 1974 or 75.

BENJAMIN OTARU AND HIS OTARUS BROTHERS BAND - BENJAMIN OTARU AND HIS OTARUS BROTHERS BAND (EMI RECORDS, NEMI(LP) 0106, c. 1974/75)

SIDE 1
1. Ikpozi Special
2. Owakhowa
3. Onoyohi Roregueda
4. Aiyeroyao
5. Ono Gbe Me No Vbioe

SIDE 2
1. Alhaji Inu-Umoru
2. Gbeyen Ona Eye Ona
3. M.C.K. Obi
4. Mr. Man
5. Col. Sedenu

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(Sorry it sounds slightly rough, especially at the beginning of each side; I don't know... Visually the vinyl is VG+. It's annoying to me, especially since the spare texture of Otaru's music makes the noise a bit more apparent, but a lot of people seem to want to hear this record so I posted it anyway.)

Echo of the (Flooded) Savannah

A few months ago, John B. posted a nice series on Likembe spotlighting some of the music from the Ijaw/Okrika/Izon peoples of Nigeria's Delta region.

The Ijaw are considered one of Nigeria's "ethnic minorities" and as such, their rich culture and musical heritage are often overlooked, but the area has nurtured a strong highlife tradition (especially in the live performance arena) and produced luminaries of the genre such as Prince David Bull & the Professional Seagulls* and the immortal Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson. The majority of its highlife stars, though, have never not made much of a mark beyond the immediate region but are local legends: Emperor Erasmus Jenewari, George Iboroma, King Robert Ebizimor and of course Echo Toikumo.

Echo Toikumo's music, like that of most Ijaw dance bands, tends to an urgency and directness that is akin to the jumpy highlife of their their Anioma neighbors.

(A few small press defects in this one, gang... Nothing too distracting, though.)

ECHO TOIKUMO AND THE FISHER BROTHERS - ENI YEI (TRADISCOS RECORDS, TRDLP-09, 1984)

SIDE 1
1. Ebi-Ebi Miyen
2. Eni Yei

SIDE 2
1. Tibi Kari
2. Eko Itonbra

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*My man Deinma (that proud son of Okrika) has been bugging me to put up some David Bull music for a while... I'm working on it, D!

Get Yer Ju-Ju's Out: He is Heavy... He is My Brother

Actually, I don't know for a fact that Bob Aladeniyi is King Sunny Ade's younger brother, but I think he is (anybody in the know, feel free to confirm or repudiate this).

What is certain is that Aladeniyi, with his showy guitaristics, was an integral player in Ade's African Beats. In some quarters, it is believed that he was the true musical voice of the band and that he played most of Ade's licks on record and on stage (Victor Uwaifo in particular has alleged that KSA only "pretends" to play guitar).

I don't know about all that... This LP is very much in the same afrobeat-infused vein as much of KSA's later 1970s work; Aladeniyi apparently even attempts to approximate his boss's feathery tenor at times, but his voice is considerably gruffer. The guitar heroics, however, stay as inventive and heavy as ever.

BOB ALADENIYI AND HIS JUJU ROCK STARS - JUJU ROCK SOUND VOL. 1 (TAKE YOUR CHOICE RECORDS, TYC40-L, 1970s)

SIDE 1
1. Gbedo-Gbedo
2. Itelorun Kosi Feiye Ega
3. Loju Won Lo Pe Si
4. Gegele L'Obi Gegele
5. Ile Ogere A Da
6. Awa Ti Juba Fun Won

SIDE 2
1. Idahun Re L'Anreti
2. A Njuwon
3. Gale Gale Ewe Odan
4. Ijo Shower

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Get Yer Ju-Ju's Out... It's Monday!

We haven't yet taken a look at Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey but we will... at some point.

Today we'll just check out a taste from a musician closely associated with Obey, Monday O. John.

By the early 1970s, Obey had been established for a few years as one of the stand-bearers for a glamorous new era of juju that saw the genre move from gin joints to jamborees, assimilating the cosmopolitan appeal of highlife, the vigorous physicality of rock & roll, the earnest emotionalism of country & western, and the guitar theatrics of Congolese rumba.

In the latter department, Obey found himself mostly outmatched by his chief rival, King Sunny Ade, much feted for his guitar wizardry. Obey's recruitment of John evened out the guitar stakes between his Inter-Reformers band and Ade's African Beats, or at least made it a reasonable enough debate.

This 1983 outing features John leading a band that includes a few musicians more identified with the "rock" genre--conga player Friday Jumbo, guitarist Jimi Lee Adams, keyboard player Goldfinger Papa Doe, Fela's afrobeat co-architect Tony Allen on the drums--and interesting enough, KSA guitar player Kayode Dosunmu.

THE GREAT MONDAY JOHN NEW WAVE MUSICAL GROUP - MONDAY O JOHN (GREAT MONDAY JOHN RECORDS, GMJ1, 1983)

CHAPTER ONE
1. Eyin Terije-Erantiwa-o (Let the richest remember the poor)
2. Awon Tiwon Ti-Gbon-Lomo Olorun (The people with knowledge are the sons of God)
3. Won Be Larawon (They are among--with them)

CHAPTER TWO
1. Emi Nima Sin Iyami To Tomi Dagba (I shall be at Mother's funeral ceremony)
2. Iya Wi Fun Omo Ko Marokun (A mother's warning to her child)
3. Eje Kafarabale Siotito (Let's be patient for the truth)
4. Ojo Nla Ni Ojo Timo Yan (It's a great day that I received from the Lord)

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Some funk off of Youtube

Yes, it's a placeholder... I haven't really had time to make any new entries, so for now just enjoy these 1980s Naija funk cuts pulled from the the always excellent DivaRadioFUNK channel on the 'Tube:





(Look out for a Dizzy K feature coming soon, by the way.)